Civil Filings for September 2017

Table 1. Civil Filings

Number Latest Month

21,292

Percent Change from previous month

-8.6%

Percent Change from 1 year ago

-15.1%

Percent Change from 5 years ago

-1.3%

The latest available data from the federal courts show that during September 2017 the government reported 21,292 new civil filings.
According to the case-by-case information
analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number
is down 8.6% over the previous month when the number of civil filings of this type totaled
23,297.

The comparisons of the number of civil filings are based on case-by-case court records which were compiled and analyzed by TRAC (see Table 1).

When monthly 2017 civil filings of this type are compared with those of the same period in
the previous year, their number was down (-15.1%).
Civil filings for September 2017 are lower than they were for the same period five years ago.
Overall, the data show that civil filings of this type are down 1.3% from levels reported in September 2012.

Figure 1. Civil Filings Over the Last Five Years

The long term trend in civil filings for these matters going back five years
is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1
represent the number of civil filings of this type recorded each
month. The superimposed line on the bars plots the six-month moving average so that natural
fluctuations are smoothed out.
One-year and five-year change comparisons are based upon the moving averages.

Types of filings

Cases were classified by the federal courts into general types.
The single largest number of civil filings of these matters during September 2017 was for "Prisoner Petitions", accounting for 18.6% of civil filings.

Jurisdiction

Within limits set by Congress and the Constitution, the federal district courts have jurisdiction to hear cases falling under any one of several categories.
The single largest number of civil filings of these matters during September 2017 was under the classification "Federal Question", accounting for 48.5% of civil filings.

Ranked 2nd in frequency was the nature of suit category "Civil Rights".
"Civil Rights" was ranked 1st a year ago, while it was the 4th most frequently invoked five years ago.

Ranked 3rd was "General Prisoner Petitions".
"General Prisoner Petitions" was ranked 2nd a year ago, while it was the 3rd most frequently invoked five years ago.

Among these top nature of suit categories, the one showing the greatest
increase in civil filings — up 99.6 percent — compared to one year ago was
"Health Care / Pharmaceutical Personal Injury Product Liability".
This was the same category that had the largest increase — 406.5 percent — when compared with five years ago.

Again among the top ten nature of suit categories, the one showing the sharpest
decline in civil filings compared to one year ago — down 31.9 percent — was
"Prison Condition".
This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 9.6 percent — when compared with five years ago.

Top Ranked Judicial Districts

Relative to population, the volume of civil matters of this type filed in federal district courts during September 2017 was 66.3 per every million persons in the United States.
One year ago the relative number of filings was 70.0.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of civil filings in
each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.

The Eastern District of Louisiana — with 792.5 civil filings as compared with 66.3 civil filings per one million people in the United States — was the most active during September 2017.
The Eastern District of Louisiana was ranked 2nd a year ago, while it was ranked 9th five years ago.

The District of Washington, D.C. ranked 2nd.
The District of Washington, D.C. was ranked 3rd a year ago as well as five years ago.

The Southern District of West Virginia now ranks 3rd.
The Southern District of West Virginia was ranked 1st a year ago as well as five years ago.

Recent entries to the top 10 list were Nevada, Middle District of Louisiana (Baton Rouge) and Southern District of Indiana (Indianapolis), now ranked 9th, 8th and 5th. These districts ranked 11th, 14th and 18th one year ago and 18th, 11th and 41st five years ago.

The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of civil filings
compared to one year ago — 71.1 percent — was Eastern District of Louisiana.
This was the same district that had the largest increase — 498.1 percent — when compared with five years ago.

In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of civil filings — 75.4 percent — was Southern District of West Virginia.
This was the same district that had the largest decrease — 79.8 percent — when compared with five years ago.